


A Place To Stay

by Denois



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: AU, Derek Nurse is a published author, Future Fic, Getting Together, M/M, Power Outage, blizzard, cuddling for warmth, near hypothermia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 13:10:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16535201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Derek stared at his phone. He’d known there was going to be a nor’easter blowing in. He’d just expected it to arrive after he left. He’d expected to wrap everything up before the airport started cancelling flights. And he honestly hadn’t considered that it would be bad enough to stop the train. He'd thought he would have options.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Lukutoukka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukutoukka) and [textreciprocation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/textreciprocation) for the beta.
> 
> Based on [This post](http://alexisthenedd.tumblr.com/post/130112873851/this-white-boy-came-over-a-month-ago-and-asked-why).

Derek stared at his phone. He’d known there was going to be a nor’easter blowing in. He’d just expected it to arrive after he left. He’d expected to wrap everything up before the airport started cancelling flights. And he honestly hadn’t considered that it would be bad enough to stop the train. He'd thought he would have options.

It was possible the busses were still running, and he might be able to find a taxi or Uber willing to risk their lives for a fare. So he didn’t really have an excuse as to why he hadn’t even tried to get to Shitty and Lardo’s place, or Ransom and Holster’s. 

He was stuck in Boston. There was only one place he wanted to go in Boston. It was only a few blocks away. So he’d gone. 

He just hadn’t considered that Dex might not respond to his text. 

He hadn’t exactly told Dex directly that he was going to be in Boston, but they were still both in the group chat. Even if Dex didn’t text him directly anymore. And almost never checked in with the group. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he wasn’t answering the text now.

It’s just that it was cold as balls and snowing with the wind whipping the little pellets of snow into his face so it stung, and Derek would really like to know if he needed to find a ride to someone else’s place or a hotel with an available room.

He pressed against the building, hoping it would block the wind a bit and pressed the button to dial again.

“Hello?” 

The voice was curt, but not actually aggressive. Derek took that as a good sign.

“Dexy! How’s it going?” The wind was howling around his head and could surely be heard through the phone, but Derek hadn’t really planned what to say if Dex answered.

“Nurse? I’m working. It’s not really a great time to talk.” Dex sounded confused, and tired. “Wait, what’s all that noise?”

Derek stuttered out a laugh. “Yeah. I don’t know if you saw, in the group chat? But I’m in Boston today for a book signing.”

“Yeah. Congrats.”

Dex didn’t continue, so Derek pressed on, bouncing on his toes to try to keep circulation going. “And my flight got cancelled because of the storm, so I thought I’d call my old d-partner. Thought maybe we could see each other. Catch up.”

“Nurse, they projected over two feet of snow. Just get a room at the hotel attached to the airport and sleep until the airport’s clear.”

Derek twisted his face. “See, the thing is. I’m not at the airport.”

There was a long pause followed by a sigh. “You’re outside my building, aren’t you?”

“Maybe?”

 

Minutes later he was inside Dex’s tiny apartment, his coat and scarf being pulled off by his ex-roommate. He couldn’t say that he hadn’t imagined such a situation, but he’d usually imagined a few details different, such as not feeling painfully cold, Dex’s face not being scrunched in irritation, not stopped at the outerwear, and the blanket that was being wrapped around his shoulders appearing much later. Being pushed down on the couch was familiar too, and jarring in that it was immediately followed by Dex disappearing.

Dex returned a few minutes later with a bowl of soup and a mug of cocoa. “Here. Eat this. Try not to spill it on your clothes. I don’t have a machine in the unit.”

Derek set the mug on the table and looked at the bowl. “What is it?”

“Fridge soup.”

“Ok. What’s in fridge soup?”

“Whatever was in the fridge. Look. I wasn’t lying. I’ve gotta finish this project for work tomorrow. You’re welcome to stay. Bedroom’s through there. Bathroom is there. I’ll be up all night working anyway.” Dex gestured to the applicable doors and then moved to a desk in the corner, leaving Derek alone on the couch, three feet away.

“Really think you’ll be working tomorrow with this storm?”

“I work from home, Nurse. It took me a long time to get that, and I get to because I don’t miss deadlines.” Dex was typing and didn’t look up.

Derek was prepared to let that go, thinking instead that if Dex worked from home, then there wasn’t _really_ a reason that Dex had to live in Boston. Then again, he was a writer and there wasn’t really a reason he had to live in NYC either.

Then the lights went out.

“Fuck.” Dex’s typing intensified for a few moments and then the whir of the computer died as Dex pushed away from the desk. “Dammit!” 

Derek decided that trying to slurp soup in the dark was a bad idea and tried to see what Dex was doing. It wasn’t really easy to do that either. Luckily, there were minimal sounds of rummaging before a flashlight clicked on. A solid weight thumped against his shoulder.

“Here. Flashlight. I’m gonna get some candles and I think I’ve got some camp lanterns.” 

Derek carefully transferred the full weight of the bowl to one hand so he could take the flashlight with the other and flicked it on. He managed to balance it on the arm of the couch so that it provided light to his soup before Dex returned with additional light sources. 

“Nice, candlelit dinner.” Derek smirked into his cocoa as the soft light revealed the blush climbing Dex’s cheeks.

“If you need another blanket, let me know. I can get you some sweats too. They’ve got a backup generator for the heating, but you were out in that shit for who knows how long because you’re a dumbass.” Dex sat at the other end of the couch and curled his feet up on it. He kept moving his hands like he wanted to be doing something, but couldn’t. Probably work.

“I’m fine for now. I had a book signing earlier. The store was only a couple of blocks away. That’s why I came here when I saw the storm.” Derek very carefully did not admit that he’d picked the bookstore for the signing based on its proximity to Dex.

“Yeah. I heard about that. Congrats man.” 

They fell into silence until Nursey finished his soup and cocoa. Dex jumped up to take the dishes to the kitchen, apparently relieved to have something to do. 

Nursey couldn’t help the jaw cracking yawn that escaped as Dex returned. It had been a long day in a string of long days. 

When he finally stopped and opened his eyes, Dex was staring at him from the kitchen door. He smiled, but Dex looked away sharply. “Right. I’ll just. You want to sleep. Of course. So, like I said, you can borrow some sweats or whatever. I think everything you’ll need is in there, but let me know. Don’t worry about waking me in the morning.” 

Derek stared at him and then the door to the bedroom, which he seemed to be indicating. “I’m not kicking you out of your bed, bro.”

“I told you that you could have it. It’s fine. Sweats are in the dresser, b-”

“Bottom drawer. Yeah. I remember. Ok. Night, Dexy.” Derek stood and walked into the bedroom, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. 

After he peeled off his clothes and pulled on some of Dex’s sweats, he did a quick look around the room with the flashlight. Derek couldn’t help noticing that one of the pillows looked shinier than the other and he went over to feel it.

Frowning, he opened the door to find Dex sitting on the couch, staring into darkness, most of the candles blown out. 

“Dex, why do you have a silk pillowcase on one pillow?”

“It’s better for your hair.”

Derek paused, nonplussed. “I mean, yeah, cotton is drying for curly and afro-texture hair, but why do you have a silk pillowcase on one of your pillows?”

“It’s better for your hair. I couldn’t afford the whole sheet set like you had. But you just used a pillowcase on roadies, so I figured that was the important part. Online they said satin would work as well as silk, but that’s just a weave and finish, it doesn’t really tell anything about the fibers. So I went with silk to be safe.” Dex seemed to realize that he was rambling and clicked his mouth shut.

Derek’s mind was spinning, trying to put all the pieces together. Because it sounded, it sounded like Dex just said that he’d gotten a pillowcase specifically for Derek. That he’d kept a Derek pillow on his bed this whole time. Because he hadn’t been in there since Derek arrived. 

Derek looked over at the pillow in question. It had to have been there before he got there. “Dex. Come to bed.”

Dex tilted his head slightly but didn’t move otherwise.

“Will. Come on. It’s cold as balls and the power’s out. We should at least huddle together to conserve body heat.”

That seemed to do the trick. Once they were both tucked under the blankets on the bed, Derek rolled to look at Dex, reaching out for his hip as Dex rolled towards him as well. He leaned in and stopped with their lips a breath apart.

“Will?” 

And Dex responded by closing the gap, pushing forward to join their lips, and adjusting his position to allow his tongue to flick along Derek’s lips and his chest was pressed up against Derek’s. 

And Derek wanted. Wanted more. Wanted closer. Wanted faster. Wanted slower. He pulled away, reluctantly. “Dex. I need to know. Is this just tonight?”

Dex responded by pushing him onto his back and following him over. “I thought you understood. This is your spot.”

“How long?”

“Forever.”

Derek leaned up to recapture Dex’s mouth but he pulled away.

“And, Will. I liked that. Call me Will.”

“Will.” Derek smiled and slid his hand around to cradle the back of Will’s head, pulling him back in for more kisses.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 15 hours earlier

Will woke up with his hand on Nursey’s pillow. He patted it good morning, just like normal.

He groaned and forced himself to get out of bed and dressed. He still had a lot to do for his project but he’d stayed up late rereading Nursey’s new book. He ignored the weather alert -- he was working from home anyway -- and made sure that he had alarms set to remind him to eat then buckled down.

The mid-afternoon alarm told him to pull away from the computer. He looked down at the alarm and froze.

Nursey’s Book Signing

The words were a challenge. Finally, he dragged his eyes away and rubbed a hand over his face. A glance out the window showed snow pellets swirling by furiously. It looked like it was approaching white out conditions.

The signing was probably cancelled. What would he do there even if it wasn’t? It’s not like Nursey wanted him there. He hadn’t even told Will that he’d be a few short blocks away; he’d just dropped a link to the tour schedule in the group chat. If Nursey wanted to see Will, he would have direct messaged him or texted him, or even just visited on a whim, he had the money and time. 

The fact was, Nursey was pulling away, hadn’t been texting him, hadn’t reached out at all. Will had to face the fact that he missed his chance with Nursey back at Samwell. He snorted at himself. Like there’d been a chance to miss. 

He stood up and went into the kitchen, pulling stuff from the fridge to make soup. Once it was simmering, he moved back into his bedroom to get the book from underneath his pillow. He paused while looking at Nursey’s pillow.

“You’re an idiot, Will Poindexter.” He shook his head and returned to the kitchen. 

An hour later, another alarm reminded him to stop reading and eating and get back to work. He’d known to set that alarm because this was his third time through the book since it came out the week before. The first two read throughs might have contributed to why he wasn’t closer to be done with this project when it was due the next day. 

He knew, logically, that Nursey hadn’t written the book to, for, or about him. But still, it somehow managed to seem to speak directly to him. A testament to how good an author Nursey was. Or how far gone Will was.

The alarm beeped at him again and he forced himself to close the book and return it to its spot so it would be there if he actually got to sleep that night. Maybe the next time he needed to compile. The number of errors on this run did not bode well for sleep. 

Will was in the habit of putting his phone in DND mode while working, he’d found it was the only way he could stay focused on the task at hand. So he didn’t see any notifications until his alarm went off to tell him to stretch and hydrate. 

Will blinked at the screen. Seven missed text messages and two missed calls from Nursey. That didn’t make any sense. He was about to swipe and check the messages when an incoming call lit up the phone again.

“Hello?” It couldn’t actually be Nursey, right? Why would he call suddenly, when he hadn’t even told Dex he’d be in town?

“Dexy! How’s it going?” Nursey’s voice was bright and full of forced chill. Of course, he was probably stuck at a hotel for the night and everyone else was busy, so he had nothing better to do than finally, _finally_ , reach out to Will.

“Nurse? I’m working. It’s not really a great time to talk.” Will stood up and went for a glass of water before noticing that the sound of a storm wasn’t just coming through his windows. “Wait, what’s all that noise?”

Nursey’s laugh made Will stop and steady himself on the kitchen counter. “Yeah. I don’t know if you saw, in the group chat? But I’m in Boston today for a book signing.”

“Yeah. Congrats.”

After a short pause, Nursey continued, “And my flight got cancelled because of the storm, so I thought I’d call my old d-partner. Thought maybe we could see each other. Catch up.”

“Nurse, they projected over two feet of snow. Just get a room at the hotel attached to the airport and sleep until the airport’s clear.” Will scrubbed a hand over his face. Only Nursey would think it was a good idea to try to get an Uber in the middle of white out conditions.

“See, the thing is. I’m not at the airport.”

Will closed his eyes. This whole conversation was frustrating, it was just like old times really. He recalled how close the bookstore had been to his place, how he’d even briefly considered braving the storm to go. He let out a sigh and replied, “You’re outside my building, aren’t you?”

“Maybe?”

Will pulled a handful of blankets out of his hall closet and threw them on the couch before running downstairs to save the idiot that he was in love with from dying of hypothermia. 

 

 

Will didn’t really have time to enjoy the fact that he was getting to peel clothes off of Nursey, instead desperately shoving the coat off and swirling the first of the blankets around his shoulders before pushing him onto the couch. The way that Nursey was looking up at him as he dropped onto the couch was unfair. Will knew it was unintentional and didn’t mean anything, but it still kick-started the thoughts of climbing into his lap and adding body heat to the warming process. Instead, he spun on his heel and went to heat up some of the leftover soup and make some hot cocoa. 

He stared at the counter for a moment. Nursey was stuck at his house in whiteout conditions. Nursey was going to have to stay the night, there was no way he could get to a hotel in this. 

Nursey was going to be the death of him.

“Here. Eat this. Try not to spill it on your clothes. I don’t have a machine in the unit.” He thrust the food and drink at Nursey and then backed away, staring at a wall. He heard the mug clink down on his coffee table and he wondered if he should mention using coasters. His table might be a cheap piece of shit, but he was trying to keep it a nice a piece of shit for as long as possible.

“What is it?” Because of course, Nursey couldn’t just trust him. He’d been helping make all the major meals their entire college career and been the primary food provider their senior year and still, Nursey didn’t trust him to be able to make something edible. 

“Fridge soup.”

“Ok. What’s in fridge soup?”

Will needed to get out of this conversation before he said something stupid to stop the inanity.

“Whatever was in the fridge. Look. I wasn’t lying. I’ve gotta finish this project for work tomorrow. You’re welcome to stay. Bedroom’s through there. Bathroom is there. I’ll be up all night working anyway.” Will gestured to the applicable doors and made a strategic retreat to his work desk. Which was unfortunately only three feet away, but at least facing a wall. 

“Really think you’ll be working tomorrow with this storm?”

“I work from home, Nurse. It took me a long time to get that and I get to because I don’t miss deadlines.” Will ducked his head in an attempt to force himself to concentrate and not be distracted. 

Because the years had been kind to Nursey. He wasn’t the same hard cut of muscle that he’d been in college, thanks to the lack of an NCAA training regime and diet plan. But he’d filled out in the right ways, softened in the best spots. And if Will had imagined cutting himself on the sharp planes of Nursey’s body in college -- which he definitely had -- then all he could think of now was tracing the smooth, refined lines of his body.

Which was not at all conducive to fixing the errors in his work. He rolled his head to crack his neck and purposefully tore his thoughts away from the man behind him.

Then the lights went out.

“Fuck.” Will sent a silent thank you to his past self for springing for the surge protector with a battery backup as a surge of adrenaline shot through him and he quickly finished his line and saved and backed up his work before shutting the computer down. “Dammit!” 

His work was safe, but now he was stuck with an incomplete project the day before it was due and no way to work on it. Unless his company closed the office the next day, he was hosed. They were going to take away his work from home rights and make him start commuting in again. 

There was nothing to be done about that now, though, so he pulled open a drawer and felt around for the flashlights he used when looking inside his machine. Once he found one, he flicked it on and quickly grabbed a second to hand to Nursey.

“Here. Flashlight. I’m gonna get some candles and I think I’ve got some camp lanterns.” 

Will didn’t wait to see if Nursey managed with the flashlight. Worst case scenario, it would fall in his lap and he’d figure it out. Or he’d sit in the dark until Will returned with the other lights. Will busied himself with setting up the two camp lanterns he had and then lighting candles and placing them around the room. When he was done, the room was fairly well lit, if with a softer glow than the lightbulbs had provided.

“Nice, candlelit dinner.” 

Nursey was chirping him like he’d intentionally set out to provide a romantic dinner. Because that’s what Nursey did. Will felt his cheeks burn, because blushing is what he did in response to 80% of Nursey’s chirps.

“If you need another blanket, let me know. And I can get you some sweats too. They’ve got a backup generator for the heating, but you were out in that shit for who knows how long because you’re a dumbass.” Will’s voice sounded rough to his own ears as he ended with a weak chirp, but he hoped it was lost on Nurse. He was out of things to do, so he sat at the other end of the couch, as far from his old partner as possible.

“I’m fine for now. I had a book signing earlier. The store was only a couple of blocks away. That’s why I came here when I saw the storm.” 

“Yeah. I heard about that. Congrats man.” Will nodded to himself. See, Nursey didn’t intend to see him at all. It was just a coincidence. He’d definitely made the right choice in not going to the signing earlier. It sounded like he didn’t even think Will knew about the signing, which means it would have looked really stalkerish if he’d been there. At least he was already blushing so that idea couldn’t really make it worse.

An uncomfortable silence fell and Will couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting, rubbing his hands on his legs, twisting them together, picking at his cuticles. It was weird not having anything to do. He hadn’t sat still for a week without either working or reading Nursey’s book, but it would be weird to go pull it out now after Nursey just indicated that he didn’t expect Will to know or even care. There was no need to make it that obvious how much he’d been pining like a lovesick fool. 

Finally, Nursey sat the bowl and mug down and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. Will immediately stood and grabbed them to take to the kitchen. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they sat in the sink overnight, but still, he gave them a quick wash just to take up some of the time before returning to the awkwardness of his living room.

He’d just stepped into the living room when his eyes caught on Nursey’s throat. His adam’s apple was bobbing, head thrown back and mouth wide open in a yawn. The candlelight flickered over his skin, drawing shadows and highlights as a shudder ran through Will. 

Nursey finally sat back up, and smiled when he saw Will watching. He quickly cut his eyes away, staring at former friends and teammates that are stuck with you against their will is bad form. “Right. I’ll just. You want to sleep. Of course. So, like I said, you can borrow some sweats or whatever. I think everything you’ll need is in there, but let me know. Don’t worry about waking me in the morning.” 

There was a long pause. “I’m not kicking you out of your bed, bro.”

“I told you that you could have it. It’s fine. Sweats are in the dresser, b-”

“Bottom drawer. Yeah. I remember. Ok. Night, Dexy.” 

To Will’s immense relief, Nursey stopped arguing and went into the bedroom. Will picked up the blanket that Nursey had been wrapped in and allowed himself one quick moment of breathing in Nursey’s scent, clinging gently to the fabric, then he spread it over his computer chair to make sure any moisture that it had picked up could dry. He knew he should just lay out the other blankets and go to sleep, but once he’d blown out the candles except those on the coffee table, all he could do was drop onto the couch and stare at the wall. 

This was his personal hell. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve it. But there was no denying that this entire situation was the absolute worst scenario that he could imagine. 

He started to allow himself to imaging Nursey getting undressed and sleeping in his bed. He could have that, in his mind, it was just a small allowance, something nice to think. Then the door from the bedroom opened and his eyes flicked over and immediately back. 

Derek Malik Nurse was standing in the doorway to his bedroom, shirtless, with Will’s own sweats slung low on his hips, looking like sin. Will had a sudden, irrational desire to text Shitty and ask if there were laws about that, because there should definitely be a law barring estranged friends from looking like sex on a plate in the homes of the people that still aren’t over college crushes.

“Dex, why do you have a silk pillowcase on one pillow?”

“It’s better for your hair.” Will didn’t really understand the question. Nursey knew this. Nursey was why _he_ knew this. He hadn’t actually considered the fact that Nursey was going to see the Nursey pillow and it would fulfill its entire purpose at last, while also exposing just how hopeless Will was. But it was too late to worry about now.

There was a slight pause. “I mean, yeah, cotton is drying for curly and afro-texture hair, but why do you have a silk pillowcase on one of your pillows?”

“It’s better for your hair. I couldn’t afford the whole sheet set like you had. But you just used a pillowcase on roadies, so I figured that was the important part. Online they said satin would work as well as silk, but that’s just a weave and finish, it doesn’t really tell anything about the fibers. So I went with silk to be safe.” Will clicked his mouth shut. It kept trying to run away from him.

This time there was an extended pause. Nursey was probably trying to figure out how bad a person he would be to call a cab, or how far the nearest hotel was to see if he could walk to it in a blizzard. Will braced himself for the news.

“Dex. Come to bed.”

Will tilted his head. That, that did not track at all. They’d already had the argument about who was sleeping where.

“Will. Come on. It’s cold as balls and the power’s out. We should at least huddle together to conserve body heat.”

Nursey was trying to kill him. It was ok. That’s how their relationship worked. Nursey tried to kill Will, or himself sometimes, and Will held it together through sheer force of will and pride. They shared a room to save money, now they can share a bed to conserve body heat. But if Nursey was still that cold after being out in the snow, he really did need to be kept warm. 

Will stood and followed Nursey into the room. They climbed into bed and rolled towards one another, Nursey placing a hand on Will’s hip. This made sense. You need to cuddle to share body heat more effectively. 

Then Nursey leaned forward and Will’s pulse started racing. It seemed for a moment like he was going to kiss him. But then he stopped. God, he wished Nursey would stop playing games like this. Will knew that he didn’t get to want this. There was no reason to rub it in, to chirp him about it.

“Will?” 

Will pushed forward and closed the gap, brushing his lips against Nursey’s and then adjusting his position so that he could open his mouth and flick his tongue over Nursey’s lips. He clutched at Nursey, pulling their chests together and if he’d read this wrong, if he’d heard what he wanted in Nursey saying his name instead of what he’d meant, then this was going to be terrible, and he’d find a neighbor that would let him stay over until Nursey could leave, but for just one moment, he allowed himself to want and need.

Nursey pulled away and Will kept his eyes closed, stopping himself from following after. Here was when it was taken away again. He could be strong for it. Nursey deserved that.

“Dex. I need to know. Is this just tonight?.”

Will’s brain whirred, trying to process. Because that, that sounded like Nursey wanted this to happen, and that he wanted it to be more than just a night. Will stopped thinking.

He pushed Nursey’s chest until he was laying on his back and followed over so that he was laying on top of him. “I thought you understood. This is your spot.”

“How long?”

“Forever.”

Nursey leaned up to recapture Will’s mouth but he pulled away.

“And, Will. I liked that. Call me Will.”

“Will.” Derek smiled and slid his hand around to cradle the back of Will’s head, pulling him back in for more kisses.

 

Will woke up in the morning with his head on Derek’s shoulder and his hand on Derek’s chest. And Derek’s head on his own pillow. He smothered a smile in the warm skin below his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit on Tumblr to yell about this or any of my fics or just these hockey boys in general at [SexyDexyNurse.](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/)


End file.
